It’s rhubarb season and I am tickled pink. (Get it?) I adore this old-fashioned early spring fruit that always cooks up in a brilliant shade of hot pink. I love to preserve it, bake with it and create rhubarb-flavored versions of classic desserts.
With spring and farmers’ market season upon us, you may be bringing home a lot of fresh, seasonal produce, like rhubarb, these days. It is so frustrating when you spend top dollar on delicious, healthy fruits and vegetables and plan your meals around these ingredients only to discover that they have wilted or even rotted in your refrigerator. What a waste!
Rhubarb from Melissa’s Produce before
Food waste is more than an annoyance. It actually squanders precious resources and has significant environmental consequences. Indeed, 25% of the fresh fruits and vegetables purchased by U.S. consumers annually are wasted before being consumed. That is shocking.
Personally, I abhor wasting food and try to be very conscious of what is in my fridge at any given moment. But sometimes life intervenes and even a well-thought-out meal plan can be disrupted by last-minute changes to the family schedule. Next thing you know, those asparagus you bought three days ago are slimy and soft.
Rhubarb after six days in OXO Greensaver
OXO, the company that strives to solve all of our kitchen conundrums has turned its attention to the problem of food waste and come up with a better approach to storing fruits and vegetables than plastic bags from the store. Plastic bags actually contribute to spoilage by trapping moisture and ethylene gas, which is what causes produce to ripen.
The OXO Greensaver is food storage system designed to make your fruits and vegetables stay fresher longer. The OXO Greensaver addresses the biggest food storage challenges by using a carbon filter to absorb ethylene gas; controlling humidity with a vent that can be adjusted for different kinds of produce; and elevating the storage basket to promote airflow and prevent moisture build-up and rotting.
I received the 5-quart OXO Greensaver and some gorgeous rhubarb from Melissa’s Produce to store in it. I placed the rhubarb in the OXO Greensaver and closed the adjustable vent, as instructed, on a Friday and did not use the fruit until the following Thursday, almost a week later. As you can see, the fruit was practically unchanged.
The OXO Greensaver system is designed to be user-friendly. It includes guidelines for storing different fruits and vegetables — some need less humidity, some need more — and you can sign up for reminders to replace the carbon filters. It’s just like replacing the filter in your water pitcher! We can do this, dear readers.
I used the beautiful rhubarb that Melissa’s Produce sent me to create a springtime version of a classic English dessert, Eton Mess. An Eton Mess, named after the posh English boarding school where it is one of the boys’ favorite “puddings,” is a parfait of meringue, whipped cream and fruit. Raspberries and strawberries are more typical. But I made mine very seasonal and a bit more American by using an orange-rhubarb compote, which adds a little tartness to the sweet meringues.
When layered in a tall glass, Eton Mess is anything but messy-looking. Still, this beautiful dessert is a snap to create. I made my own meringues but you can simplify the preparation by using store-bought meringues.
- ½ cup egg white (from 4 large eggs) at room temperature
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sugar, preferably castor or superfine
- 6 cups slices rhubarb
- 3 cups sugar
- Zest of one orange
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 TB sugar
- 2 tsp Grand Marnier (optional)
- Preheat oven to 200 and line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat baking liners.
- In bowl of standing mixer, combine egg white, cream of tartar and vanilla. Beat with whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy and soft peaks form.
- Gradually, one tablespoon at a time, add sugar to egg whites and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop meringue into a piping bag, or plastic bag with a corner cut off, and pipe onto baking sheets in baton or S shapes.
- Bake for two hours or until crisp and hard. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until needed.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rhubarb sauce. Combine the sliced rhubarb, sugar, orange zest and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Turn heat down to medium and stirring constantly continue to cook until fruit is tender and begins to break down, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Pour cream into the bowl of a standing mixer and beat using whisk attachment on high speed.
- Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until cream forms stiff peaks.
- Fold in Grand Marnier if using.
- To assemble, drop dollops of whipped cream in bottoms of four parfait glasses. Add a spoonful of rhubarb sauce to each glass. Crumble a meringue into each glass so that there are some large pieces and some fine powder.
- Repeat the layers until each glass is full.
- May be prepared up to one hour in advance and stored, covered, in refrigerator.
Full disclosure time: I received an OXO Greensaver and rhubarb from Melissa’s Produce free of charge for the purposes of creating a product review. I have not received any compensation for this post and as always, all opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
